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FILE - In a Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009 file photo, Bishop Paull Spring of State College, Pa., listens to comments while at the podium at the Lutheran Coalition for Reform (CORE) conference in Fishers, Ind. Since ELCA's decision last August to liberalize its rules for gay clergy, allowing pastors in committed same-sex relationships to serve openly. But by most accounts, it's been a confusing and murky time in the nation's largest Lutheran denomination, with several hundred congregations now moving toward a permanent split with the ELCA and likely more to come. (AP Photo/Tom Strattman, File)
/ AP